As Congress and the White House remain gridlocked over budget negotiations, President Barack Obama suggested yesterday that further Pentagon budget cuts are needed beyond the $400 billion he already recommended.
Obama’s comments came during a White House press conference during which he discussed the clash he and congressional Democrats have with Republicans over whether to raise the nation’s debt limit and just how to cut the budget deficit.
The president called for a “balanced approach” to reducing the deficit, saying Democrats must “accept some painful spending cuts that hurt some of our constituencies and we may not like.”
“I, as commander in chief, have to have difficult conversations with the Pentagon saying, ‘You know what, there’s fat here. We’re going to have to trim it out,’” Obama said. He said outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is leaving his post today, has already done a “good job identifying” $400 billion in cuts.
“But we’re going to do more,” Obama said. “And I promise you, the preference of the Pentagon would be not to cut any more, because they feel like they’ve already given.”
Obama unveiled on April 13 a deficit-cutting plan that would cut $400 billion in “security” spending by 2023 as part of an effort to save $4 trillion in federal spending overall.
During his final press conference, Gates told reporters on June 16 that a comprehensive review at the Pentagon will determine if the $400 billion in security cuts is the right amount or too much (Defense Daily, June 17).
Before Obama’s call for the $400 billion in cuts, which are not expected to be made exclusively at the Pentagon, Gates already identified $78 billion in Defense Department savings over the next five years.
During yesterday’s press conference Obama also repeatedly criticized “tax breaks for corporate jets,” which Republicans have refused to relinquish.